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MoPix Update from WGBH- March 5

1. MoPix Films Opening this Week
2. Closed Captioning Bill for Theaters Introduced in Maryland and Kentucky Legislatures
3. New DVD and Blu-ray titles with DVS
4. Grant to Develop Tools for Making Images in Ed Content Accessible
5. MoPix Films Now Playing
6. MoPix Films Coming Soon
7. Credits

1. Captioned Films Opening This Week

Alice in Wonderland from Walt Disney Studios
(cc dvs) (rated PG)
19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen’s reign of terror. The classic tale is reimagined by director Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Mia Wasikowska.

Brooklyn’s Finest from Overture Pictures
(cc only) (rated R)
Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths.

2. Closed Captioning Bill for Theaters Introduced in Maryland and Kentucky Legislatures

Maryland’s House of Delegates has introduced House Bill 1463, also called Rachel’s Law. This bill would require closed captioning technology and set a minimum number of accessible screenings in movie theaters. More information at this site:

http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/billfile/HB1463.htm

And here is a link to a bill (SB102) introduced in the Kentucky legislature to increase the availability of closed captioning in movie theaters in that state:

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/10rs/SB102.htm

3. New DVD and Blu-ray Titles with DVS

The list of DVD and Blu-ray discs which have an optional DVS track continues to grow, thanks to the ongoing commitment of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The newest titles are 2012 (a sci-fi/action adventure) and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (comedy/horror/action). We always have the full list at this page of our site:

http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/resources/accessible-dvds.html

4. Grant to Develop Tools for Making Images in Ed Content Accessible

The Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs has awarded Benetech, WGBH’s National Center for Access Media and the U.S. Fund for DAISY funding to create and research and development center to improve the production and availability of accessible images in educational content. The new center is called DIAGRAM. Learn what that stands for, and more about the new project at:

http://tinyurl.com/ylsnwz2

5. MoPix Films Now Playing

Helpful Links:
- www.mopix.org for a list of theaters that list accessible films and showtimes on their
sites
- captionfish.com (searches for captioned, subtitled and/or described films based on your zip code)
- fomdi.com (searches for captioned films based on your zip code)

Available with closed captions using the Rear Window Captioning system, and
audio descriptions utilizing the DVS Theatrical System:

Alice in Wonderland from Walt Disney Studios
Avatar from Twentieth Century Fox Films
Crazy Heart from Fox Searchlight Pictures
Dear John from Sony Pictures
Legion from Sony Pictures
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief from Twentieth Century Fox Films
The Tooth Fairy from Twentieth Century Fox Films
Valentine’s Day from Warner Bros. Pictures
The Wolfman from Universal Pictures

Available with closed captions using the Rear Window Captioning system
(descriptive narration is not available for these films):

The Blind Side from Warner Bros. Pictures
Brooklyn’s Finest from Overture Pictures
Cop Out from Warner Bros. Pictures
The Crazies from Overture Films
The Edge of Darkness from Warner Bros. Pictures
Extraordinary Measures from CBS Films
Shutter Island from Paramount Pictures*
Up in the Air from Paramount Pictures*
When in Rome from Walt Disney Studios

6. MoPix Films Coming Soon
(plot descriptions from imdb.com)

Green Zone from Universal Pictures
(Mar 12) (cc dvs)
Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer (Matt Damon) to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region.

Our Family Wedding from Twentieth Century Fox Films
(Mar 12) (cc dvs)
The weeks leading up to a young couple’s wedding is comic and stressful, especially as their respective fathers (Forrest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia) try to lay to rest their feud.

Remember Me from Summit Pictures
(Mar 12) (cc only)
A drama centered on two lovers (Robert Pattinson and Emily de Ravin) whose newfound relationship is threatened as they try to cope with their respective family tragedies.

The Bounty Hunter from Sony Pictures
(Mar 19) (cc dvs)
A bounty hunter learns that his next target is his ex-wife, a reporter working on a murder cover-up. Soon after their reunion, the always-at-odds duo find themselves on a run-for-their-lives adventure. Starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid from Twentieth Century Fox Films
(Mar 19) (cc dvs)
Live-action adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s illustrated novel about a wise-cracking junior high school student.

Repo Men from Universal Pictures
(Mar 19) (cc dvs)
Set in the near future when artificial organs can be bought on credit, it revolves around a man who struggles to make the payments on a heart he has purchased. He must therefore go on the run before said ticker is repossessed. Starring Jude Law, Liev Schreiber and Forest Whitaker.

Clash of the Titans from Warner Bros. Pictures
(Mar 26) (cc with dvs tba)
The mortal son of the god Zeus embarks on a perilous journey to stop the underworld and its minions from spreading their evil to Earth as well as the heavens.

Hot Tub Time Machine from MGM
(March 26) (cc only)
Four friends, all of them bored with their adult lives, travel back to their respective 80s heydays thanks to a time-bending hot tub.

How To Train Your Dragon from Paramount Pictures
(Mar 26) (cc desc)*
A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely owner of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

The Last Song from Walt Disney Studios
(Mar 31) (cc only)
A drama centered on a rebellious girl (Miley Cyrus) who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father (Greg Kennear). Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.

MoPix Films Coming April/Early May

Furry Vengeance from Summit Pictures (Apr 2) (cc only)
Date Night from Twentieth Century Fox Films (Apr 9) (cc dvs)
The Losers from Warner Bros. Pictures (Apr 9) (cc only)
Death at a Funeral from Sony Screen Gems (Apr 16) (cc dvs)
The Back-Up Plan from CBS Films (Apr 23) (cc only)
MacGruber from Universal Pictures (Apr 23) (cc dvs)
Oceans from Walt Disney Studios (Apr 23) (cc only)
Wall Street 2 from Twentieth Century Fox Films (Apr 23) (cc dvs)
Iron Man 2 from Paramount Pictures (May 7) (cc with dvs tba)

* WGBH has developed a conversion process to enable select Paramount films
to be available via Rear Window Captioning systems. Some of these titles
will also be available with descriptions. The latter will be designated
"desc" vs. DVS in our updates to indicate availability of that
feature, though WGBH did not create those descriptions.

–
7. CREDITS

Closed captioning and description of films provided by the Media Access
Group at WGBH, a nonprofit division of Boston public broadcaster WGBH. The
Rear Window Captioning and DVS Theatrical systems were developed by WGBH to
make feature films accessible the date films open in theaters nationwide—
and during regular showtimes— to movie fans who are deaf, hard-of-hearing,
blind or visually impaired.

For more information on the WGBH’s Motion Picture Access (MoPix) efforts,
including how to encourage a theater in your area to install the access
systems, please visit <www.mopix.org >, e-mail access@wgbh.org or call 617
300-3700.

- -
Media Access Group at WGBH
mary_watkins@wgbh.org
< http://access.wgbh.org >
One Guest Street
Boston, MA 02135
617 300-3700 voice/fax

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts" newsletter for Wednesday, February 20. The newsletter is posted to the IEA listserv each Wednesday and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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MEDITATION AS A PATH TO CREATIVITY
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SCHOOL YEAR TO START ON A MEDITATIVE NOTE
Bridie Smith, Theage.com.au, 1/28/08
"When the 36 students at Reservoir"s Maharishi School return to the classroom this week, there will be the usual buzz that comes from the thrill of seeing classmates and starting a school year. But by 9.30am, shoes will be off and all will be quiet. Complete silence will descend over the school as the students and teachers sit crossed-legged on the floor and meditate. Breathing and pulse rates will slow as students quickly settle into their transcendental meditation � a technique that teaches pupils to slow their mental activity and experience pure consciousness ... Meditation is a central part of the education students receive at Maharishi School, an 11-year-old independent primary school that teaches consciousness-based education. The ritual was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi � the man who introduced transcendental meditation to the Beatles, Mia Farrow and Shirley MacLaine in the 1960s. It is performed in two 10-minute sessions each day at the school, the only Maharishi school in Australia. Principal Frances Clarke said meditation enabled students to tap in to a reservoir of creativity and intelligence at the beginning and end of each school day."
Read more>>

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ARTS ADVOCACY DAY
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ARTS ADVOCACY DAY
March 31 - April 1, 2008
Americans for the Arts
"The 21st annual Arts Advocacy Day is the only national event that brings together a broad cross section of America�s cultural and civic organizations, along with hundreds of grassroots advocates from across the country, to underscore the importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts. Learn how to lobby Congress. Network with other attendees from your state and across the country. Be heard by your members of Congress when you visit them to make the case for the arts and arts education."
Register or learn more>>


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PERFORMING ARTS AND THE CHANGING DIGITAL WORLD
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CLASSICAL ARTISTS EMBRACE DIGITAL CULTURE
Hazel Davis, Reuters UK, 2/9/08
"When violinist Tasmin Little announced in January that she would be giving away her "Naked Violin" album as a free download, she tapped into a growing trend: classical music artists and retailers utilizing digital formats and business models. Since the album features Little performing the works of such little-known composers as Ysaye and Paul Patterson, listeners were unlikely to "buy it on the off-chance," Little says. But the response to the free download, she says, has been "phenomenal." Thousands of tracks have been downloaded, and monthly page impressions on Little"s Web site have increased from 5,000 to 150,000 since the announcement. ""The Naked Violin" is a snapshot," Little says. "The idea is that people will go and buy (more classical) repertoire."
Read more>>


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FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ARTS EDUCATION
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BUSH"S PROPOSED ARTS CUTS BRING OUTCRY
Editorial by Dorothy Shinn, Akron Beacon Journal, 2/8/08
"Bush asks nothing � not one thin dime � for the U.S. Department of Education"s Arts in Education program in the 2009 budget, compared with the $35.3 million enacted appropriations in the 2008 budget ...This brings to an end his perfect record of attempting to eliminate altogether funding for this valuable program, which includes funding for model arts programs and collaborations with schools, teacher professional development and arts programs for at-risk youth.Once again, the current administration fails to understand the valuable role of arts education in developing an innovative and creative society."
Read more>>


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GRANTS, AWARDS, AND CONTESTS
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TECHNOLOGY IN MOTION: VISION OF THE FUTURE
Sony Creative Software, Intel, Edutopia, and ISTE
Proposal entry deadline: 2/22/08 ***COMING SOON!***
"The Technology in Motion contest is designed to engage students in professional video and audio production. By participating, your school will receive everything needed to produce a film or films that will be entered into a contest for a chance to win one of three $20,000 multimedia hardware and software prize packages. The film contest encourages high school students (grades 9-12) to share their vision of how technology will shape the future. Every school that submits a qualifying Call for Entries form will receive a Technology in Motion launch kit, which includes a free copy of Sony� Vegas� Pro 8 Promotional Edition video editing software; free Sony Vegas Pro 8 video tutorials; a free copy of the Digital Video and Audio Production Vegas Pro 8 teaching guide; [and a] free 1 year subscription to Edutopia magazine.
Learn more>>

THE PURPOSE PRIZE
Civic Ventures
Nominations Close: 3/1/08 ***COMING SOON!***
"The Purpose Prize provides five awards of $100,000 each to people over 60 who are taking on society�s biggest challenges. It�s for those with the passion and experience to discover new opportunities, create new programs, and make lasting change."
Learn more>>

DRIVING SAFETY FILM CONTEST
Bridgestone Firestone 2008 Safety Scholars
Deadline: 6/24/08
"It�s your turn to take the director�s chair. Make a short video (25 or 55 seconds) related to safe driving. Enter it in the Safety Scholars Competition and your video may be aired as a commercial for Bridgestone Firestone. The three top filmmakers also will each win a $5,000 college scholarship and the ten finalists win a new set of tires." For high school students.
Learn more>>

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